Marcos Galvao ready for title fight with friend and Bellator champ Eduardo Dantas

Don’t expect much trash talk from Marcos Galvao ahead of his upcoming title fight with Bellator champion Eduardo Dantas.

Before winning the Season 6 bantamweight tournament this past weekend, Galvao knew there was the distinct possibility his tourney run would conclude with a fight against his longtime friend and fellow Nova Uniao fighter.

“There’s no need for rivalry,” he told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “We’ve known each other for a long time, and humility comes first. We must respect each other. We’re human beings.”

Galvao earned the title shot with a win this past weekend. After the tourney final was delayed by scheduling issues earlier this year, it concluded at Bellator 73, the organization’s final “Summer Series” event. Galvao (13-5-1 MMA, 4-2 BFC) scored a second-round TKO victory over fellow finalist Luis Nogueira (14-3 MMA, 4-2 BFC).

He now fights Dantas (14-3 MMA, 4-0 BFC), who had cracked the division’s top five worldwide during his own tourney run and title win over then-champ Zach Makovsky in April. However, the day after Galvao earned top-contender status, Dantas competed outside the organization (with permission) and suffered an upset loss to Tyson Nam at Shooto Brazil 33 this past weekend.

Despite that recent loss, Dantas vs. Galvao, who both are among the world’s top 15 bantamweights, remains one of the biggest fights the division can book with non-UFC fighters. Currently, it’s slated to take place at Bellator 79 on Nov. 2.

“Everyone is fine with it, everyone is aware,” Galvao said of the fight. “It’s our job. We’ll be fighting. We’re going to have to fight. It’s unpleasant, but we’ll have to fight. It’s our job.”

And afterward?

“It doesn’t matter (what happens),” he said. “We’ll remain friends.”

One unfortunate aspect of Galvao’s win is what it meant for Nogueira, who was on a 10-1 run before this weekend’s loss. While the title would have been nice, he was disappointed he couldn’t offer more help to his father.

“My father is having a real (medical) problem,” he told MMAjunkie.com after the event. “He’s battling a disease, and he’s someone who’s always on my side, helping me and giving me strength. I came here to get my job done. It’s no excuse. Today ‘Loro’ was better, and that’s the way it is.”

A win over Galvao would have given Nogueira $100,000 in total earnings for the tournament. Although he tried not to think about it, he knew such a windfall could have substantially aided his father’s recovery.

“That’s the big problem – counting on something before it happens,” he said. “I was expecting to win that money. The healthcare system in Brazil isn’t very good. My father needs a biopsy. The doctor already said he has a tumor. We need to find out if it’s benign or malignant.

“Now we have to wait two months for the biopsy, and if it’s malignant, then my father has no hope.”